Lungern Lucerne

18 things to do in Lucerne Lake, best hotels and Lungern

18 things to do in Lucerne Switzerland,
best hotels and Lungern

After our visit in Lucerne Switzerland and Lungern we want to present you a full travel guide with the 18 best and unique things to do in in this beautiful places in Switzerland and the main attractions.

Enjoy a complete travel guide that offers you all the informations you need, based on our personal experience. When we started our journey in Switzerland we visited Zurich, we visited the villages Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald and Interlaken and then we visited Iseltwald, Spiez and Sarnen.

Lucerne Lungern

We booked a hotel in Annecy and after visiting Annecy we went back to Switzerland because we had more cites left to visit. So the first city on our list was Lausanne, the second was Geneva(Genf), the third was Bern and the last one was Basel This was our itinerary in Switzerland and we hope that you will get your inspiration from our travel guides.

Table of Contents

Our itinerary from Switzerland written in separate articles from this one: Zurich; Lucerne-Lungern; Interlaken-Lauterbrunnen-Grindelwald; Iseltwald-Spiez- Sarnen; Geneva; LausanneBern; Basel. Discover more of Switzerland with us!

Informations

Quick Tips

When to travel: Peak tourist months are from May to July, but one can take a trip to Switzerland in any season, depending on their interests.

Language: The official languages are German, Italian, French.

Currency: Swiss Franc (CHF) 1$ =0,9 CHF 1€=1,1 CHF

Food Prices: Meal in a cheap restaurant=23 EUR, Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant=92 EUR

You can find more information about the visa here.

Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of economics, transportation, culture, and media in the region. The city’s urban area consists of 19 municipalities and towns with an overall population of about 220,000 people. This city has long been a destination for tourists, owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucern and its outflow, the river Reuss, within sight of the mounts Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps.

The village of Lungern lies 750 meters (2,460 ft) above sea level in the highest part of the canton of Obwalden, on the eastern shore of the Lake of Lungern and at the foot of the Brünig Pass. It is the highest village of the Sarneraa-Valley, in a basin open only to the north and surrounded on all other sides by steep and woody inclinations and rocks.

Things to do in Lucerne

Chapellbridge

The Chapel Bridge is a medieval covered wooden bridge over the Reuss river. It is considered a landmark and one of the city’s fast tourist attractions. In the middle is the water tower.

Chapel Bridge Lucerne Switzerland

The Lion Monument

The Lion Monument is located in the center of the city and, in the allegory of a dying lion, commemorates the Swiss Guards who fell on August 10, 1792 during the storming of the Tuileries in Paris. The inauguration of the monument, which was carved out of a sandstone rock and is about ten by six meters in size, took place on the anniversary of 1821. It is one of the most famous monuments in Switzerland and is visited by around 1.4 million tourists every year. In 2006 it was placed under Swiss monument protection.

Lion Monument Lucerne Switzerland

Swiss Museum of Transport

The Swiss Museum of Transport is a versatile transport and communication museum and the most visited museum in Switzerland. It shows a large collection of locomotives, cars, ships and airplanes as well as exhibits from the field of communication. In addition to the museum, it also houses a planetarium, the “Filmtheater” and the “Swiss Chocolate Adventure”.

18 Things to do in Lucerne and Lungern-travel guide,hotels Swiss Museum of Transport Luzern Switzerland

Church of St. Leodegar

The Court Church of  St. Leodegar is one of the landmarks of the city of Lucerne in Switzerland. Is the main church of the Roman Catholic parish of St. Leodegar im Hof, one of the eight Catholic parishes in Lucerne and it is also the collegiate church of the collegiate monastery of St. Leodegar.
Church of St. Leodegar

Culture and Congress Center

The Lucerne Culture and Congress Center was opened in 1998. The KKL, built according to the plans of the architect Jean Nouvel, is a multifunctional building in the city of Lucerne. The concert hall, valued for its acoustics, is the heart of the center.

Jesuit Church

The Jesuit Church of St. Franz Xavier is a Jesuit church named after Francisco de Xavier on the left bank of the Reuss in the old town of the city.
Jesuit Church

Spreuerbridge

The Spreuerbridge is the third covered wooden bridge in the city, alongside the Kapellbridge and the Hofbridge, which were demolished in the 19th century. The first bridge connected Mühlenplatz on the right bank of the Reuss with the mills in the middle of the river in the 13th century. The continuation to the left bank was not completed until 1408. In the Middle Ages, chaff and leaves could only be poured into the Reuss from this lowest bridge in the city.
Spreuerbridge

The Musegg Wall

The Musegg Wall with the Musegg Towers is a landmark of the city and, together with the Water Tower and the Chapel Bridge, determines the historic townscape of the city. It is part of the city fortifications of the city of Lucerne.

Pilatus

The Pilatus is a mountain massif in Switzerland south of Lucerne. It is located in the border area of the cantons of Lucerne in the west and Nidwalden and Obwalden in the area of the highest elevations, the highest point of which is the Tomlishorn with a height of 2128 m above sea level. Damn. The mountain station Pilatus Kulm of the Pilatusbahn with a viewing terrace, a panorama gallery and two mountain hotels are located on the scenic local mountain of Lucerne.
Pilatus Switzerland Lucerne Lake

Ufschötti Luzern

Lakeside park with swimming pool
Ufschötti Luzern

Meggenhorn

The Meggenhorn is a castle residence on Lake Lucerne and a ship station of the Lake Lucerne Shipping Company. Geographically, Meggenhorn is the headland that protrudes into the lake and separates Lake Lucerne from Lake Küssnacht.

Rigi

The Rigi is a mountain massif between Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz in Central Switzerland. The highest peak is 1797.5 m above sea level. M. Rigi Kulm, a popular destination for tourists. 

Things to do in Lungern

Lungern Lake

The Lungern Lake is a natural reservoir in the canton of Obwalden. The lake can be reached from the Brünig Pass or from Lucerne through the Sarneraa Valley. The town of Lungern and its districts of Kaiserstuhl-Bürglen and Obsee are located on the lake.

Lungern Lake

Chälrütirank View Point

Chälrütirank View Point

Ballenberg open-air museum

The Ballenberg Open-Air Museum is an open-air museum in Hofstetten near Brienz in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. It shows 109 original historical buildings from all parts of Switzerland, native farm animals, original gardens and fields. Traditional handicrafts are shown in demonstrations. The Ballenberg course center is affiliated with it. Every summer, the Ballenberg Landscape Theater puts on a play in a historical setting.

Lungern Island

Reichenbach Falls

The Reichenbach Falls is a 300 meter high cascade of seven waterfalls in the course of the Reichenbach in the municipality of Schattenhalb south of Meiringen in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. He is known for the dramatic ending of Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story The Last Trouble. The top Reichenbachfall is the largest.

Aare Gorge

The Aare Gorge is a gorge near Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. The Aare flows through it and increases its flow rate considerably. The Aare leaves the gorge at almost 12 km/h.

Where to stay

A good night’s sleep is particularly important when you are travelling. Both cities are offering for guests a host of luxurious, charming and also out-of-the-ordinary accommodation.

Whether in the heart of the city, near the lake or surrounded by nature – the hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses guarantee a relaxing and invigorating stay.

We managed to find the best three companies that offer hotels, holiday homes and transportation. These are: Booking.com,Trip.com and Vrbo. We have already tested these companies and we warmly recommend them. As a result this will just bring you good deals for your next vacation.

Where to eat

Food specialties and restaurants in Lucerne

Lucerne’s gastronomy shines with diversity. You can enjoy Swiss specialties and as well as imaginative gourmet menus from all over the world, whether in a cozy tavern or in a sophisticated restaurant.

The typical dishes of the city are: Zuppa di zucca: a famous typical pumpkin dish with toast and smoked bacon. Forellen: trout is the most famous fish dish in the city. Heusuppe: it is one of the simplest and most natural typical dishes of Lucerne. Its main ingredient is hay and then some mountain herbs. Lucernese gingerbread: traditional gingerbread. Glühwein-Mousse: this dessert is among the most famous in Lucerne. It is a mulled wine in the form of mousse. Its taste is amazing!  

Zuppa di zucca Forellen Heusuppe Lucernese gingerbread Glühwein-Mousse

Saving Tips

The Visitor Card Lucerne that comes for free with an overnight stay in one of the city’s hotels includes free use of buses and trains within the city (zone 10). If you get caught without a valid ticket, it’s 90 CHF.Boat travel is free with Swiss GA card, Swiss Travel Pass etc. and 50% discounted with Swiss Half fare card. Kids under age 6 get to travel for free. The Visitor Card is your best bet in the travel pass choice bracket for Lucerne.

You get a lot of discounts on mountain railways, museums, cableways, excursions in zone 10 city network. These include 20% discount each on the Rigi Bahen, Stoosbahen, and Stanserhorn-Bahn. Plus, you get free Wi-Fi access in hotspots staggered throughout the city. Along with all this, you also get free use of train and bus (2nd class) within zone 10.

saving tips Lucerne

Or get a Swiss Travel Pass which is valid for all kinds of public transport (216 – 458Sfr, depending on duration) and free entry to many museums (www.swisstravelsystem.com). If you plan on travelling a lot in Central Switzerland and pay a visit to more than one of the famous mountains a Tell-Pass is a good option for you. Ask for advice at the train station.The Swiss Travel Pass is available for 3/4/8 and 15-day formats. The facilities include free tickets for bus, boat and train apart from discounted entry to museums and castles and discounts on mountain trips.

  •  You can also try Hop-on, Hop-off tours or Big Bus tours and spare some money. As we are presenting a lot of good options you just have to pick the perfect one for you!

You can save some money in Lungern by buying a shopping voucher for Giod`s us Lungrä.You can redeem the shopping vouchers anywhere in Lungern that bear the signet “Welcome to Lungern Shopping Voucher”. BliomäMeitli GmbH, Brünigstrasse 56 is the place where you can buy it.

If you do not go by car and need to know more informations about the tours, things to see and do in Lucerne or Lungern, we recommend this two companies that are offering tours for any kind of activity you want to do and where you can buy trips much cheaper than if you buy them when you arrive at your destination. It is always good to be able to save some money!

Viator and Get Your Guide : the best activities in town!

When you think about your dream vacation, you also need to plan your budget! This is why we found the perfect partner – Check24 ! We traveled with a lot of companies and they are the best if you need comfort, luxury but also fair prices! And this is very important! You can now travel and really enjoy your vacation, when you know that you can live your travel dream by paying a fair price.

When you think travel, think Orbitz ! They are one of the leading U.S. online travel websites, offering a full range of travel products and services. They got everything from flights, hotels, and car rentals to cruises, travel insurance, and destination services from suppliers worldwide.

Orbitz

Whe have even more good news! We have the best partners from around the world and you can find your dream vacation right here! We are sure that you will find everything you need – Just check our partners websites and find your dream vacation!

There’s no feeling in the world like connecting with new places, people and experiences through travel. From the iconic to the unexpected, get those “pinch me” moments through a series of Trafalgar highlights others may never know about, or have access to.

Shopping

Shopping in Lucerne

For a town which is – after all – not very big, Lucerne has a surprisinglywide range of shopping options. If you’re buying watches, Lucerne can match or even top most larger destinations. But there is also an impressive range of fashion boutiques, some well stocked with the international luxury brands, while others focus on lesser known, carefully chosen Swiss and international designers. 

Being Switzerland, chocolates and other fine food products are well represented too.The two major shopping areas are in the old town between Schwanenplatz on the lake and Mühlenplatz to the west, and in the Neustadt (the ‘new town’) between the railway station and Hirschengraben street.But if you are shopping in Lucerne then no worries because this city will take care of the shopaholic and the prudent spender versions of you at the same time.

H47 Fashion GmbH-Majorly its clothing hub, but it also houses a set of complimenting accessories and much more.

Laderach Chocolatier Suisse is the home to some of the best quality and flavors of chocolate in the whole of Switzerland.

Chronoswiss -internationalbrand of watches
 
Bucherer 1888- men and women’s luxury watches 
 
shopping lucerne
 
Drink-Shop Luzern – They sell more than one and half thousand varieties of drinks bottled in fancy bottles.This Gift Shop-This is a place you should definitely go for shopping trinkets and souvenirs for your near and dear ones, to give them on when you are back. 
 
Daly’s Irish Shop is a place that has an old town charm shop. This is where you can find anything and everything Irish! You can add things from here into your home décor, from wall hangings to art pieces to even whisky.
 
Co-Mix Remix has a vibe of its own. Housing a set range of old records to comic books to spray paints and DVDs.
Shopping in Lungern
 
Even though there are not so many shops in Lungern compared to other cities, you can also buy beautiful gifts for your loved ones from here:
 
Bürki Bernhard-Sports shop

Getting Around

The regional network is coded into zones and Lucerne city stands for zone 10. So if you are just going to explore the city and its famous neighbours (Littau, Kriens, Meggen, Emmenbrucke etc.) then just buy a combined ticket for zone 10. This is probably all you will need as the bus transport to cable car valley-station (Pilatus) is also within this zone.

A day pass for zone 10 valid for a calendar day costs 8.20Sfr (half-fare 6.20Sfr), a single ticket valid for 1 hour 4.10Sfr. Children under 6 travel for free, 6 – 16 year-olds pay the so-called half-fare (which actually is 3.10Sfr). Short distance tickets for up to 6 stops within half an hour are 2.50 (no half-fare). 

All these tickets can be purchased with cash or credit cards at the ticket machines you find at almost every stop (switch to English on the first screen).A multi-day ticket (basically 6 single-day tickets) will cost 46.80 euros. If you want to do extensive sightseeing then buying a multi-zone ticket is good. For example, you will need a multi-zone ticket covering both zone 10 and zone 23 if you want to explore Matters Lucerne route. The 2 zone ticket prices start from 59 euros. More information about Tickets & Passes is given under the next major heading below.

transport lucerne

The Visitor Card Lucerne that comes for free with an overnight stay in one of the city’s hotels includes free use of buses and trains within the city (zone 10).There are night buses called nachtstern (www.nachtstern.ch) on Fri/Sat and Sat/Sun nights to surrounding areas (like Kriens or Littau), which leave from the main train station. The tickets for 7Sfr or 10Sfr can only be bought from the driver. Day passes and any other tickets aren’t valid.

There is an app called Fairtiq  and you can use it to buy public transport tickets in Lucerne.

In city transport, a trolleybus is a good option. This has replaced the tram system of Lucerne in 1961. The network is run by VBL and has 6 lines that not only cover the city thoroughly but also run to nearby towns of Horw, Emmem and Kriens. About 92 buses, 74 trolleybuses on 25 daytime routes run in Lucerne. All information is available on the VBL website and the combined travel tickets work here.

Boat

A great way to see Lucerne is to take a hop on hop off boat tour or a Lake Lucerne cruise (there are 1/2/3 hour versions). Some tours have an audio guide and some have food and wine offerings. The tickets are available at the Lucerne pier (a few steps away from the main train station) or at the SBB, Rigi Bahnen, Pilatus Bahnen, Tourist Office Beckenried, Treib Seelisberg Bahn etc. The last 3 mentioned mountain rail offices sell combi tickets for the boat and mountain trip that’s a good value.

Getting here

Getting to Lucerne

Lucerne doesn’t have an international airport so if you are flying in then it’s better to fly into Zurich airport. Not only is the Zurich airport nearest to Lucerne but it also offers the best international connectivity. From Zurich airport to Lucerne it’s a 67 km journey that will roughly take 55 minutes by car.  There are no direct flights to Lucerne and the the other options would be Basel-Mulhouse Freiburg airport, but you will need more time to get to Lucerne from Basel, or other option is to fly into Berne Airport that’s 124 km away.

Lucerne can be reached by train, car or bus.  You can book you train ticket or bus ticket with Busbud.

With a view to making your trip planning process easier, we have gathered the most relevant info about the closest airports to Lucerne.

Most passengers are arriving in the country aboard flights operated by Vueling, United, Turkish Airlines, Thai Airways, Tap Air Portugal, Swiss International, SAS, LOT, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Korean Air, Iberia, Finnair, Edelweiss, Emirates, Easy Jet, Delta, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, American Airlines, Qatar and land in Zurich airport that is receiving the highest volume of travelers flying from overseas.

Travelling from Zürich International airport to Lucerne

Transport links from the airport to central Zürich and from Zürich main station to Lucerne are frequent –departing every twenty minutes- and run during the night time too. The journey from the airport to the city center takes 45 minutes on average. Swiss Railways (SBB/CFF/FFS) operates a train from Zürich HB to Luzern every 30 minutes. Tickets cost CHF 23 – CHF 45 and the journey takes 41 min. Alternatively, you can easily board a regional bus to reach Lucerne. There will be at least 1 change though as there are no direct buses. 

getting to Lucerne

You can either opt for IC5-IR75 route or IC8-EC route and either way your journey will take around 1 hour 33 minutes. The approximate bus fare will be 14.25 euros. As an alternative, you might find it more convenient to rent a car after landing in Zürich, another good way to cover the distance between the airport and your hotel in Lucerne.

Auto Europe Car Rental, provides the clients with the best rates & service in the industry! They offer travelers the best rates at 20,000 pickup locations in over 180 countries worldwide. The Auto Europe Advantage: Free Cancellation Up to 48 Hours Before Pick up, Best Rate Guarantee,24/7 Service Hotline from Pickup to Drop off. Enjoy now a 30% discount!

Getting to Lungern

You can travel 19 miles (31 km) by car or train to Lungern from Lucerne. The most popular travel companies which serve this journey are SBB among others. It will take 37 minutes to get in Lungern by train and the average ticket  will cost around € 16. 

You can also fly to Bern and from the airport in Bern you can reach the train station by bus 160, and the ticket costs between 4 and 6 euros.Also there is an airport shuttle which takes u right to the center (main train station), which u could give 20 min to half an hour to reach. From here you can travel by train to Lungern. It takes an average of 2 hours and the ticket costs between 40 and 89 euros.

LEVEL8 is an NYC-born brand for luggage and bag. We exist to bring a leisure and exquisite way of traveling, with suitcases that honored the art of personal presentation and style. For more information on LEVEL8 Luggage collection, visit :

Map

Booking.com

Subscribe to our newsletter

4 thoughts on “18 things to do in Lucerne Lake, best hotels and Lungern”

  1. Hi, I do believe this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going to come back once again since I book-marked it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *